According to a research conducted by Dr. Richard Wurtman, a neuroendocrinologist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his colleagues, the invigorating effect of coffee results from an inhibition of brain chemicals that cause drowsiness. Therefore, moderate coffee consumption can help office workers with heavy workloads to keep a clear head, think actively, stay focused, and work efficiently. Many medical journals have also pointed out that coffee has a lot of ingredients that are beneficial to the human health. In particular, caffeine can energize the central nervous system, ward off sleepiness, lower the chances of catching cold, and reduce the occurrence of asthma and edema; the antioxidants in coffee can slow the deterioration of liver diseases, reduce the epidemic rate of chronic liver diseases, and decrease the risks of death caused by complications of liver cirrhosis; the anti-dementia substances in coffee can alleviate the effects of harmful substances on the human body and reduce the content of amyloid in the brain that leads to dementia; and the polyphenol compounds in coffee can retard the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein, dissolve blood blots, and prevent thrombus formation. As more and more advantages of coffee are disclosed, the population of coffee drinkers are on the rise, and with it arises the coffee culture.
Coffee can be prepared in a good number of ways. For example, coffee can be brewed with an ibrik (typically for Turkish coffee), by filtration, by dripping cold water on ground coffee (as for Dutch coffee), and by steeping, wherein each brewing method requires a specific brewing container. In order to secure a share in the coffee-related market, brewing container manufacturers have spared no effort in research and development, hoping to overcome the drawbacks of existing brewing containers and provide consumers with better products. However, as consumers' demands on the performance and physical appearance of brewing containers grow higher and higher, the development of brewing containers becomes increasingly difficult, and the ability to meet such consumer demands is the key to survival in the highly competitive market. Currently, a coffee brewing container is, without exception, equipped with a filtering element for filtering out coffee powder during the brewing process, thereby preventing the coffee powder from being consumed. After brewing, the resulting coffee liquid often contains fatty oil and sediments (e.g., coffee fiber, protein insoluble in water, etc.). When the fatty oil is combined with the sediments, an oily substance known as “coffee colloid” is formed, which substance has a direct impact on the taste of the brewed coffee. More specifically, the coffee will taste thicker or more buttery when there is a relatively large amount of fatty oil and coffee colloid, and smoother or thinner when there is a relatively small amount of fatty oil and coffee colloid. By changing the number of mesh openings of the screen, the amount of fatty oil and coffee colloid can be controlled to adjust the taste of the brewed coffee. However, after years of research in the brewing container-related field, the inventor of the present invention has found that the filtering elements for use in today's brewing containers tend to result in poor user experiences and need further improvement in terms of filtration effect and use.
For instance, FIG. 1 shows a brewing container 1 and a filtering element 2 for use therewith. The brewing container 1 is composed of a cup-shaped body 11, a handle 13, and a lid 15, wherein the handle 13 is mounted on the outer periphery of the cup-shaped body 11 and the lid 15 is pivotally provided on the top side of the cup-shaped body 11. The cup-shaped body 11 has a receiving space therein and a bottom portion provided with a discharge hole and a liquid stopping element (not shown). When the brewing container is placed on a table and the liquid stopping element is not pressed, the discharge hole is covered by the liquid stopping element so as for the user to add hot water and coffee powder into the cup-shaped body 11. When the cup-shaped body 11 is subsequently placed on the top side of a drinking cup, the liquid stopping element is pressed by the drinking cup and covers the discharge hole no more. Consequently, the coffee in the cup-shaped body 11 is free to flow into the drinking cup through the discharge hole. Now that the structures of the discharge hole and of the liquid stopping element are well known in the art and are commercially available, a detailed description of such structures is omitted herein.
Referring again to FIG. 1, the filtering element 2 is received in the cup-shaped body 11 and includes a frame 21, a screen 23, and a hollow post 25. The frame 21 corresponds to the discharge hole and is fixed to the inner bottom surface of the cup-shaped body 11. The screen 23 is laid on the top side of the frame 21. Therefore, the coffee in the cup-shaped body 11 must pass sequentially through the screen 23 and the discharge hole, before flowing out of the cup-shaped body 11. In the process, the coffee powder and coffee colloid in the coffee are blocked by the screen 23 and are thereby kept in the cup-shaped body 11. Since part of the fatty oil is adsorbed to the coffee powder, which is now retained by the screen 23, the out-flowing coffee is low in fatty oil content. The hollow post 25 is provided on the top side of the frame 21 above the screen 23 and is connected to the frame 21 by a plurality of ribs 251. The top side of the hollow post 25 is formed with a plurality of through holes 253, allowing the liquid or air surrounded by the screen 23 and the frame 21 to discharge through the hollow post 25 and the through holes 253. Hence, the screen 23 will not be coated with an excessive amount of coffee powder and sediments which may otherwise prevent the liquid or air surrounded by the screen 23 and the frame 21 from flowing out during filtration.
However, as stated above, the inventor of the present invention has found, after years of research on brewing containers, that the filtering elements used in the existing brewing containers are structurally flawed and tend to cause inconvenience of use. First of all, referring to FIG. 1, when a user wishing to make relatively thin coffee uses a screen 23 with a relatively large number of mesh openings, a large amount of coffee powder and coffee colloid will deposit on the screen 23 and substantially reduce the liquid- and air-permeability thereof. In that case, liquid or air communication between the outer surface and the inner surface of the screen 23 can only be achieved through the flow path provided by the hollow post 25 and the through holes 253, and yet this flow path prevents the liquid (i.e., coffee) in the cup-shaped body 11 from flowing out rapidly. In other words, the user must wait a relatively long time before the coffee can be served. Secondly, when it is desired to clean the filtering element 2, the user is required to put one hand into the cup-shaped body 11 and grip the hollow post 25 in order to pull the filtering element 2 out of the cup-shaped body 11. However, with the fatty oil in the coffee also attached to the hollow post 25, the hollow post 25 will have a slippery surface that is hard to grip, not to mention that the relatively short length (about 0.5 cm) of the hollow post 25 only allows a small portion of the user's fingers to be in contact with the hollow post 25. Therefore, while the user tries to pull out the filtering element 2, the limited area for force application by the fingers tends to hinder the removal of the filtering element 2, making it difficult to clean the filtering element 2.
Given the above, the issue facing the brewing container industry is to overcome the aforesaid drawbacks of the conventional filtering elements and develop a new brewing container which can satisfy consumers' expectations by providing better user experiences.